


Starstruck

by Spurlunk



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 21:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1873539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spurlunk/pseuds/Spurlunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aramis persuades his brother D'Artagnan to go to Hollywood for spring break and try to meet his pop star idol, Constance. D'Artagnan couldn't care less about her, but then she runs into him (literally), and as they hide from the paparazzi, a friendship begins to develop between them. Starstruck (Disney Channel Original Movie) AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Nav for help in solidifying the concept for this story!

When D'Artagnan came down for breakfast, his brother Aramis was shoveling cereal into his face as fast as he could without choking. Milk dribbled down his chin and D'Artagnan made a face as he sat down and started buttering some toast.

"You're disgusting," he said. Aramis just smiled at his brother, mouth full and beard dripping. He put down his spoon and drank up the rest of the milk from the bowl, wiped his face with a napkin in one quick swipe, and dashed into the living room to turn on the TV.

"And now, an exclusive interview with the one and only ... CONSTANCE!!!" D'Artagnan heard coming from the other room. Of course. Their mother, who preferred to be called Milady, would never allow them to eat in the living room, and she also always emphasized the importance of breakfast, so Aramis would have to eat as fast as he could if he wanted to go watch his beloved Constance on TV. D'Artagnan rolled his eyes and kept eating. He couldn't help but hear the entire interview, even though Aramis and the television were both in the other room, because he had the volume up to deafening levels. Milady had already gone to work, so there was no one to tell him to turn it down.

Aramis had been into Constance since she first started posting her song covers to YouTube almost two years ago. She'd gotten discovered and risen to be the most popular singer among teens in incredible speed, probably mostly due to her talent, but also, D'Artagnan thought, it didn't help that she was the cutest redhead he'd ever seen. It set her apart and made her stand out. He might have even liked her himself, but with a die-hard fan like Aramis around for two years straight, living, breathing, and drinking up her every move, D'Artagnan had quickly gotten sick of her.

That evening, when Milady came home, and they all were eating dinner together (Chinese takeout, Milady never cooked, though Aramis sometimes did), Aramis asked a question D'Artagnan could tell he'd been thinking about and preparing for a while.

"You know how it's Spring Break next week?" he asked. Milady nodded.

"I thought maybe we could go to California. I haven't seen Athos in forever, and it would be really nice to go somewhere warm for a week," Aramis suggested. Milady's face darkened at Athos's name, but she gave no other outward reaction.

"I would have to call him to make arrangements, but you can go, only if D'Artagnan goes with you."

Aramis immediately turned to his brother, the most pleading, puppy dog eye expression on his face.

"You just want to see if you can meet Constance. I know how you think," D'Artagnan said.

"So? Come with me, it's not like you have anything else going on."

D'Artagnan sighed. He thought about it for a moment. It would be nice to have time away for a week, maybe while his brother was out looking for Constance he could go to the beach by himself, walk around and see the sights. Maybe he could even hang out with Athos. The last time he'd seen him, he was only maybe eight or nine years old, and he'd remembered looking up to Athos like he was a superhero or something. D'Artagnan had gotten into fencing because he had seen Athos' awards and trophies when he'd last gone to visit him. Maybe Athos could give him some pointers.

"Yeah, okay, I'll go with you," D'Artagnan said. Aramis whooped and grabbed D'Artagnan's face with both of his hands, kissing him on the mouth. D'Artagnan shoved his chair away from the table with a loud scraping noise and dashed to the kitchen sink, furiously washing his face.

"Gross, gross, GROSS!" he cried, and Aramis hugged Milady as well, before running up to his room. D'Artagnan smiled to himself. It was nice to be part of the reason his brother was so happy.

 

They arrived in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon, and D'Artagnan barely had a chance to unpack a little and have a conversation with Athos when Aramis dragged her out to go try to meet Constance.

"Can we borrow your car? I promise I'll drive it and we'll bring it right back!" Aramis said. Athos looked like he was not sure about his answer, but as always, once he was confronted with Aramis's charm and beauty, he found himself saying yes anyway. D'Artagnan was annoyed. He'd had to practice his puppy-dog look for years, and even now he could only bring it out when it was really important or else people would get used to it and its effects would wear off.

"Yes, alright, but I don't want D'Artagnan driving, he doesn't have his license yet. And be back before midnight," Athos said. Aramis grinned, because Milady's curfew for them at home was usually ten pm, even on weekends. It kind of impaired his social life. Athos handed Aramis the car keys.

"Thanks so much, you're the best!" Aramis said. He hadn't even asked D'Artagnan if he wanted to go with him, he just assumed, and D'Artagnan kind of hated that he was right.

Aramis kept up a constant chatter on the drive to the club where Constance was going to be performing. It was her boyfriend Bonaceiux's birthday, and though Constance hadn't actually said she was going to be there, there were enough rumors that it was basically a given. Aramis somehow found a parking spot across the street, and before he got out, he poked his head in the window.

"I promise I won't be longer than an hour, you're not allowed in because it's over eighteen, but just text me if you need anything, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, but you owe me," D'Artagnan said. Aramis grinned at him.

"I know," he replied, and ran off across the street.

An hour and a half later, D'Artagnan was hopelessly bored. He'd played five levels of candy crush on his phone, listened to the radio until he was afraid he'd kill the car battery, people watched for a while, and then, at nine-thirty, decided enough was enough. D'Artagnan got out of the car, locking the doors and taking the keys with him, and walked over to the entrance of the club. He knew it was pointless, he didn't have a fake ID and anyway he was only sixteen. When the bouncer turned him away, D'Artagnan walked around the side of the building, hoping he could find a back entrance. He found a side door, and even though it said in case of emergency only, tried to open it. Except just as he reached for the handle, the door banged open, with force, and knocked him to the ground. His vision swam and the pain was incredibly intense for a moment. When he could focus again, he realized a pretty redhead was on her knees next to him, apologizing profusely.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, I swear I didn't mean to hit you, can you see?"

D'Artagnan blinked a couple of times and took her hand, allowing her to help him to his feet.

"I'm - I'm fine, I think, I'm okay," he said, but he was uneasy on his feet.

"You're coming with me to the hospital, do you have a car?"

"Yeah, but my brother's inside and he won't have a ride home if I take it - "

"That's fine, what's your brother's name, I'll have my friend Porthos take him home."

"His name is Aramis, I have his number, you can text him - "

"Okay, good, we'll do that on the way, show me where your car is."

D'Artagnan wasn't sure why this girl was in such a rush to get out of there, he felt a little woozy and his head hurt but it wasn't that bad, he wasn't bleeding or anything. It wasn't until he got in the car and gave her the keys that he realized who this girl was.

"Holy shit, you're Constance!" he said as she drove. She winced a little.

"Yeah, that's me, let's not make a big deal out of it."

"Oh trust me, I couldn't care less who you are. You hit me in the head and you're taking me to the hospital. I hope you're paying for it all, too, I get an allowance of fifty dollars and I've already spent most of it this month."

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of that. Honestly, I'm kind of glad I ran into you, because I was having a hard time getting out of there without paparazzi following me."

"You're glad you hit me with a metal door and probably gave me a concussion?" D'Artagnan said.

"That's not what I meant!"

"Yeah, okay, sure," he said.

"We'll just go to the hospital, get you checked out, and then we can each go home, okay? Let's try to make this quick and painless." Constance said.

"Already failed at the painless part."

Constance sighed and the rest of their drive was in silence.


	2. Chapter 2

D'Artagnan was feeling better by the time they got to the hospital, his head just ached a little and it was tender if he touched it, but he didn't think he had a concussion or anything. Constance insisted they get it checked out anyway, just in case. Before they got out of the car, however, she quickly tied her hair up into a bun and pulled on a beanie she grabbed out of her bag to cover it.

"Is that seriously going to help people not recognize you?" he asked.

"You'd be surprised. People notice the hair more than anything else, without that, I'm basically an ordinary girl."

"You could never be an ordinary girl." D'Artagnan blurted out before he realized what he was saying. Constance blushed and came around to his side of the car. He opened the door and he could get out just fine, but she grabbed him by the side anyway, looping one of his arms around her shoulders. He didn't complain.

D'Artaganan was checked out and found to be just fine, aside for a pretty nasty bruise. He spent a lot of time just waiting, and Constance kept him company.

"How'd your performance tonight go?" D'Artagnan asked her. Constance made a face.

"It was fine. Don't tell anyone, okay, but Bonacieux and I have been broken up for like, a month now. He just won't go away and he keeps telling the paparazzi that we're together so no matter what I say people just believe we're together. He's in like, extreme denial. Basically, even though I can't stand him anymore, I had to go perform tonight because he made it look like if I didn't, I was the one who was the dick, not him."

"That ... that sucks. He sounds like an asshole."

"He totally is. Treville - that's my manager, he's the greatest - he promised to help me come up with a plan to get rid of Bonaceiux once and for all without it looking like I'm the jerk instead of him. He told me if I just sucked it up and performed for him this one last time, he'd figure out a way for this to end tonight. He's probably at my house, waiting for me."

"You can go, it's fine, I can just ... take a cab back or something," D'Artagnan said.

"No, of course not! Don't worry about it. It's only ten-thirty, we've got plenty of time."

Once they were given the okay to leave, though D'Artagnan was instructed that if any strange symptoms developed he needed to come right back to get them checked out, and he should take it easy for the next few days, Constance decided to drive D'Artagnan home.

"I hope Aramis made it back okay," D'Artagnan said.

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine, Porthos is super trustworthy. Hold on, my phone's ringing, can you put it on speaker?"

D'Artagnan obeyed, and it was Constance's manager, Treville. He sounded a little stressed out.

"Constance, where are you?" his voice came out all crackly on the speaker, but his concern was obvious.

"I'm out with a friend, why? Is something wrong?"

"I thought you were at the club with Bonacieux, but he's here on your doorstep. You need to get here now."

"What? Can't you just get rid of him?"

"No, he's brought the paparazzi with him. Come as fast as you can, if he keeps going I don't know how much damage control I'll be able to do."

"I'm on my way." Constance said, and D'Artagnan hung up the phone for her. She gave him an apologetic smile. A few tendrils of her red wavy hair had escaped from her beanie, and D'Artagnan reminded himself that even though she was about ten times more gorgeous in person, he couldn't fall for her. She was a pop star and this was a one time freak occurrence.

"Sorry, D'Art, we have to make a pit stop," she said, and he sighed.

"Yeah, that's fine, I guess," he said, and she nodded.

"Don't worry, it'll be super quick. Two seconds, I promise."

 

Constance's house was in a gated community far from the neighborhood that Athos lived in. The houses were huge, and the lawns were gorgeous. Just from the cars parked in the driveways, D'Artagnan could tell that this was where rich people lived. It was obvious which house was Constance's, because there were at least half a dozen scruffy guys with cameras hanging out on the sidewalk. D'Artagnan could hear Bonacieux before he saw him, because he was yelling and pounding at the door for Constance to let him in.

Constance was pissed off, she stormed up to Bonacieux and shoved him off the front steps. He just barely kept himself from falling. D'Artagnan slowly got out of the car and walked over, mostly unnoticed. The paparazzi were excited, this was exactly the kind of thing they'd come here for.

"Stop being such an idiot, I wasn't even at home! What are you doing here?" she yelled.

"You left me alone at the club, where were you? I thought you went home because you were mad at me, but now I see you're here with ... this guy!" he cried out, pointing at D'Artagnan. Suddenly all the paparazzi were on him, and D'Artagnan walked quickly up to the front step. An older man in a leather jacket opened the door, and D'Artagnan slipped in to avoid the cameras.

"What the hell is going on? Who are you?" he asked.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Constance yelled.

"That's enough!" Treville bellowed.

"You, Bonaceiux, leave. If you come back here or bother Constance again, I'm going to call the police. The rest of you, if you don't leave immediately I'm going to call the cops on you too. This is private property." Treville said. Everyone obeyed, without complaint. Treville had a commanding presence about him that made you want to do what he said.

"Who is this kid?" he asked Constance once everyone had gone.

"D'Artagnan. I knocked into him by accident with a door so I took him to the hospital to make sure he was okay."

"What time is it? I need to be home by midnight," D'Artagnan said suddenly, sifting through his pockets to find his phone. It was eleven twenty, and he had two missed calls and five texts from Aramis.

"Take him home," Treville said, and Constance nodded. She grabbed Treville in a quick hug and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you so much."

"No problem, Constance," he said, and then they were on their way once again.

They had made it maybe five miles when Constance noticed something in the rear view mirror.

"Someone's following us," she said.

"No they're not," D'Artagnan said.

"I'm going to take a left, watch them take a left too," she said. D'Artagnan turned around and watched, and sure enough, they were being followed. He saw the flash of a camera go off, and blinked.

"It's paparazzi again," he said. Constance cursed under her breath.

"Look, I already feel bad about what I've put you through tonight. I'm going to lose them and drive to your house, but if I call Treville to come get me, they're just going to follow him to your place and then you'll be in this mess too."

"They already got my picture though."

"I know, but I don't want them to know where you live too. I've already done enough. Can I just stay at your place for the night? I"ll be out of your hair in the morning and you'll never have to deal with any of this again," Constance said.

"Um. I don't think Athos would like it if I brought a girl home and had her sleep over." D'Artagnan said. He was glad that the car was almost as dark as the night outside so that she couldn't see him blushing.

"He doesn't have to know. Come on, just this one last favor," Constance pleaded.

"I guess I could probably sneak you in the back and you could sleep on the couch in the basement. As long as you're out by morning, Athos would never know."

"Awesome! Thanks so much, D'Art, you're the best."

They arrived at Athos's house, and D'Art instructed Constance to park in the driveway and meet him around the back. He walked inside, and the place was dark. It was almost midnight, after all. Aramis went to bed early, which was a relief because otherwise D'Artagnan would have to endure a good hour or so of questions about his whereabouts tonight. D'Artagnan locked the door behind him, and went to grab an extra blanket out of the linen closet. Then he let Constance in the back, and showed her the stairs to the basement, handing her the blanket.

"If you need anything, you can just text me, I'm right upstairs. The kitchen is here if you need anything to drink, and there's a bathroom in the basement next to the laundry room," he said, sending her a quick text so she had his number. She texted him back to make sure he had hers, which was an extra step she didn't really have to take, D'Artagnan thought.

"Thank you so much, D'Art. I'll be gone in the morning, don't worry. I'm sorry again about everything tonight."

"It's not a problem, don't worry about it," he said. She smiled at him and disappeared down the stairs to the basement. D'Artagnan went upstairs and tried to sleep, but he ended up lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling lost in thought for a long while before finally closing his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, Constance was gone. D'Artagnan was talking with Athos about fencing over breakfast when Aramis came down, he felt much better this morning after showering and taking some aspirin. Constance texted him to thank him for letting her stay, and he wrote back to say it was no problem at all. Aramis plopped down in his seat and helped himself to some eggs and bacon. He clearly wanted to ask D'Artagnan where he'd been, but with Athos sitting right there, he couldn't possibly get them both in trouble by explaining how they'd gotten home last night.

"So what are you boys planning on doing today? I'll be around tomorrow but I'm afraid I'm working all day today." Athos said in a break in the conversation.

"I don't know, I - " D'Artagnan started, but Aramis broke in before he could finish.

"I was thinking we could go to the beach, it's so nice out and it'd be great to see the ocean," he said.

"Um. Yeah. That sounds nice," D'Artagnan said.

"Good, I hope you both have fun. Do you have enough money? I'm going to bike to work today, so you can both have my car, but be sure to be back by dinner, I'm cooking tonight."

"Okay, that sounds good. Thanks!"

They got their things packed and in the car, and literally as soon as they got on the road, Aramis started peppering D'Artagnan with questions, unable to wait a moment longer.

"Alright, alright, hold on! I'll tell you everything, but first you tell me how your night went. Did you get to see Constance perform?" he asked.

"I did, she was amazing."

"What about the guy who gave you a ride home? Porthos, I think?"

"Oh yeah, him. Who is he? He had a really fancy car and he was so cool. He has earrings and he was wearing this studded leather jacket and really nice boots. He smiles and laughs with his whole face, he's really handsome...how do you know him?"

"I don't, I was with Constance, she knows him. Maybe he's her assistant? Maybe they're just friends."

"You were with WHO?"

"Constance. I waited in the car for you but you didn't come out so I went looking, and she banged a metal door open and hit me on the head. So then we took Athos' car to the hospital, and anyway I'm fine, don't worry."

"Wait a second. Hold on," Aramis said, peeling out of traffic and pulling over on the side of the road. He took out his phone and scrolled furiously, finally opening a blurry photo of the back of a shaggy haired young man standing on the lawn of what D'Artagnan recognized as Constance's house, as Bonacieux stood yelling at her in the foreground.

"Is that you?" Aramis asked. D'Artagnan took the phone and squinted at the picture.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Oh my god. Oh my god. D'ARTAGNAN!!!!!" Aramis yelled, taking his brother by the shoulders and shaking him.

"Ow, can you stop? My head still hurts."

"Are you going to see her again?" he asked.

"No, I mean she gave me her number but I think she just wants to stay away because - "

"You have her number? Oh my god. You have to text her! Wait, no, don't text her. No, do text her - "

"Aramis. Why are we going to the beach?" D'Artagnan asked.

"Because there were pictures online of Constance surfing there last weekend and the conditions are supposed to be great today, I bet she'll be back."

"Well then, there you go. Let's just go to the beach and maybe you'll run into her there."

"Right. Yes. I'll do that." Aramis said, starting to drive once again. D'Artagnan leaned back in his seat. Why had he been the one to randomly run into Constance? It should have been Aramis, he was the one who had been infatuated with her for years. He'd liked her before she was famous. And D'Artagnan was just ... an ordinary guy. Not even a fan.

When they got to the beach, Aramis immediately pulled off his shirt, leaving it on top of the bag they'd brought along, and took off for the water, going in for a quick swim. When he came out, he joined a group of girls and guys playing volleyball. D'Artagnan wasn't sure what to do with himself. He walked around the beach for a while, and then he spotted a familiar figure sitting under an umbrella with a big hat and a book. Once he realized who it was, he walked right over and sat down on the sand next to her.

"Hey there, weird meeting you again like this," D'Artagnan said. Constance pushed up her hat a little and gave him a smile.

"Hi there, D'Artagnan. You following me?"

"No, but my brother might be."

"Porthos called me this morning, he wouldn't stop talking about him. I think he might have a crush."

"Well, he might have a chance, because Aramis definitely mentioned how handsome Porthos was."

"Is he here? Point him out to me so I know if he's worthy to date my best friend." Constance said. D'Artagnan spotted his brother near the volleyball players, he was wearing blue and green plaid swim trunks and his hair was still wet from the ocean. He dove for the ball and fell right into the sand, but within moments he was back on his feet, laughing.

"That's him," D'Artagnan said, pointing.

"Oh, he's cute! He and Porthos would make a very beautiful couple."

D'Artagnan spotted a man with a camera, edging nearer and nearer to them with a look on his face like he was trying to figure out who Constance was.

"I think we have company."

"Shit. Hey, is it okay if I kiss you?" Constance asked. D'Artagnan didn't even have time to react.

"You ... what?"

But then she had pulled him close and her hat was poking him and her mouth was on his and he was kissing back and then she let go. D'Artagnan blinked a couple of times, stunned.

"Okay, I think he's gone. I better get out of here. Hey, you wanna come with? I was gonna spend the day here, but I can show you around the city, if you want." Constance suggested.

"Um. Yeah, that would be great, I'd like that."

"Cool! Help me get this umbrella down, then."

D'Artagnan helped Constance get her things into her car, and quickly texted Aramis to tell him that he'd gone off with a friend but would still be home for dinner. Aramis didn't respond, his phone was probably still in his bag on the sand, and it wasn't urgent anyway.

D'Artagnan and Constance had a wonderful time. She took him shopping, she took him sight-seeing, they had lunch together, and got ice cream. It almost felt like it was too good to be real, and D'Artagnan found himself, despite everything, falling for her. The way she smiled back at him, he thought maybe she thought the same of him. Unfortunately, it was Constance who had to start heading back, because she had a meeting at five with someone with her record label. She was driving back towards the beach, when paparazzi began following them yet again.

"I'm going to try to lose them, hold on," she said, and took a sharp right turn down a side road. She lost the paparazzi, but the road was too narrow to turn back around, and soon it became unpaved, a dirt path leading ... somewhere where there were no houses or buildings of any kind.

"I think we should turn around, the GPS on my phone isn't even working anymore..." D'Artagnan suggested.

"No, it's fine, I just need to get a little further and there should be a connecting - oh no."

She was revving the engine,  but the car wasn't moving. There was a sucking sound, and D'Artagnan looked out his window. The wheels were churning, but just spitting up mud, and -

"The car is sinking. Constance! The car's sinking!!" he cried out.

"Oh my god. We're going to die."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to capture musical movie montages in words, so for the part where Constance is showing D'Artagnan around the city, this is what it would be like in visual form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ2vUb92CwM


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on, you have to climb out or you're going to sink," D'Artagnan said. He was kneeling on the roof of the car, bending over to the open window and reaching his arms through to pull her out, but she kept hesitating.

"I can't do it, I can't - " Constance said, and tried to open the door. It wouldn't work, the car had already sunk too low and the mud was pressing up against it.

"Come on!" D'Artagnan exclaimed, and grabbed her by the arms, half-helping her and half just plain dragging her out of the car. Except then he lost his balance, sending both of them in the pit of mud with a splash.

"Oh my god! Get me out of here!" Constance yelled. D'Artagnan sputtered and choked, but then his feet hit solid ground. The mud pit wasn't that deep. He was able to stand with it coming up to the top of his shoulders. That calmed him down a lot, but Constance was a good bit shorter than him.

"Put your arm around my shoulder," he said, and she obeyed, in the reverse of what she'd done for him when she took him to the hospital the day before. He slowly waded through the thick mud with her until they reached the dirt road they'd skidded off of, and the two of them each pulled themselves out of the mud, breathing hard. Constance lay there for a moment, but D'Artagnan sat up, pulling out his phone, which was miraculously still in his pocket.

"I can't get any signal. We're going to have to walk back to the road," he said. Constance suddenly sat up and looked around her. There was nothing but dirt and mud.

"My bag! It had my phone and my wallet and - I need my bag back!" she said.

"Why are you looking at me?" D'Artagnan asked. She didn't say anything, just kept looking at him pointedly.

"You're kidding me. I'm not going back in there. You can get a new phone, and a new wallet!"

"My phone is my life! I have everything in there! Please," she said. D'Artagnan looked again at the mud pit that had almost entirely swallowed the car.

"You owe me so much. SO MUCH," he said, and dove in.

After about fifteen minutes of blindly feeling around for anything even slightly resembling Constance's purse, D'Artagnan made his way back to the ground, incredibly annoyed.

"I couldn't find it," he said, and got to his feet. Constance joined him and they began walking down the dirt road, hopefully to reach civilization (and a cell phone signal) soon so that D'Artagnan could call a cab.

"Really? Nowhere?"

"This is all your fault anyway, if you hadn't turned off the road and gone back the way we came like I suggested ... "

"I didn't ask for the paparazzi to follow us!"

"How do you even know it was them?"

"We saw the camera! Are we seriously arguing about this?"

"Hey, check this out," D'Artagnan said. Constance followed him, her curiosity getting the best of her, and then D'Artagnan grabbed her hand, and tok off running, jumping into a lake together. Unlike the mud pit, this water was clean, and they both couldn't help the smiles on their faces from being clean again.

"I can't believe you just pushed me in like that!" Constance exclaimed, splashing at him.

"Yeah, but now we're both clean and we don't look like swamp monsters anymore," he replied.

"Still! You could have warned me first!"

"That wouldn't have been even half as fun."

Dripping and a lot happier, the two of them climbed out and continued their walk towards the main road. It was warm enough that they dried off by the time they got in range of a phone signal, but before D'Artagnan could call anyone, Constance snatched the phone away.

"We don't need a cab, I can just call Treville and he'll come get us," she said.

"Right, okay, it's not like you could just ask me before grabbing my phone out of my hands." D'Artagnan said. Constance made a face at him and told Treville where they were, approximately, and what had happened to them.

"He's on his way." Constance said, handing D'Artagnan back his phone.

"Okay, cool."

"Hey, before he gets here though, I need to talk to you about something," she said.

"Sure, go ahead."

"I like you, and the last few days have been really fun, but we can't hang out anymore. The paparazzi are already on me 24/7, and I wouldn't want that to happen to you too. Anyway, you're going home at the end of the week, and I'd like you to have a good time without worrying about dudes with cameras following you everywhere."

"I don't care about that. I like you. I like spending time with you."

"You don't understand, you couldn't understand. It's okay. You'd be happier without me, trust me."

"I don't - "

Treville pulled up in his SUV, and the conversation was cut off. The ride back was spent with Treville scolding Constance for what had happened, but D'Artagnan and Constance did not exchange a single word.

"Shit, they're here," Treville said, and D'Artagnan twisted around in his seat to see that there were men in cameras following them.

"Just drop him off and take me home," Constance said. D'Artagnan didn't even get to say anything to her when they arrived in front of Athos's house. The paparazzi had come out of their cars and were gathered around the door, so Treville advised him to just make a run for it. D'Artagnan obeyed, and Aramis was at the door.

"You better tell me what's going on, D'Artaganan," he said. D'Artagnan just shoved in past him, ducking under his arm as Aramis smiled his most charming smile for the cameras before shutting the door in their faces.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of their spring break passed uneventfully, at least for D'Artagnan. Aramis was clearly in a whirlwind romance with Porthos, because he was gone almost every day and after a few days of trying, gave up asking D'Artagnan to join him. He never pressed his brother for details, but D'Artagnan knew that his face was probably in the tabloids, connected to Constance's very public breakup with Bonacieux. He spent a couple of days wallowing, another obsessively reading every website he could find that had information about Constance, and one day Athos gave him fencing lessons, which was actually kind of nice.

When they went back home, it seemed like nothing had changed. Aramis still obsessed over Constance, but a little less than usual, since he was mostly on the phone or on Skype with Porthos anyway. One morning, he scarfed down his breakfast and dashed into the living room again, which D'Artagnan knew meant that Constance was giving another interview. Despite his better judgement, he walked in and sat down on the couch next to Aramis.

"So, tell me more about the mystery man you were spotted with a few weeks ago. Here's a few pictures of the two of you getting up close and personal in downtown LA. Is there a new boyfriend we should know about?" the platinum blonde TV announcer asked. The picture on the screen was fuzzy, but it was definitely D'Artagnan, reaching over Constance to pick out a pair of sunglasses to try on.

"No, no, that's just a friend, it's nothing, really. I'm trying to take some time for myself, you know, grow as a person."

Aramis turned off the TV before Constance could say anything else, and turned to his brother, an expression of concern on his face.

"You know that interview isn't live, right? She taped it a few weeks ago, I'm sure she was just - "

"I don't want to talk about it, Aramis."

"There are people at the door and they want to talk to you," Milady said suddenly. D'Artagnan had no idea who would be here to see him first thing in the morning. When he opened the front door, a dozen paparazzi were standing there, cameras flashing and yelling questions at him.

"What the - " Aramis said from over his shoulder.

"They followed you all the way here?" Milady said.

"Stop! Just stop!" D'Artagnan yelled, and the paparazzi grew silent.

"This is all your fault! You keep following me everywhere, you follow Constance, she can barely breathe because you're all just suffocating her. You encouraged Bonacieux, who she never really liked, and you actually came all the way here to Michigan just because you think I might be dating Constance? Well get this straight - we're not dating, we've never dated. To be honest, I barely know her. So you can all just go away. Goodbye." D'Artagnan said, and slammed the door in their faces. He was breathing hard, and he thought he might cry. Aramis grabbed D'Artagnan in a hug. When he stepped away, Aramis smiled at him.

"Porthos is flying down for the Spring Formal. You want to come with us? The three of us can all go together, it'll be fun."

"I don't know, Aramis. I'm not sure I'm up for it."

"You're coming. You're going to have a great time. It's next week, I already bought the tickets. I want you to meet Porthos, anyway."

"Okay," D'Artagnan said.

"Good," Aramis replied.

"Hurry up and go get ready for school," Milady said, and they both obeyed.

X

Aramis helped D'Artagnan get ready. He'd never quite gotten the hang of tying a tie. They met Porthos at the front door. He was tall, dark, and handsome. D'Artagnan could tell as soon as he saw Porthos and Aramis look at each other that they were made for each other. They fit together so easily, it was kind of difficult to picture either of them alone again. D'Artagnan was pleased to see his brother so happy. Aramis deserved that.

The dance was the usual. Porthos and Aramis kept him company for a while, but eventually they got up to dance, and D'Artagnan sat with a drink in his hands, feeling a little sorry for himself. A couple of people asked him to dance, but he turned them down. He wasn't the best dancer anyway. He was just trying to figure out a way he could just go home without Aramis getting angry with him when the band stopped playing and the microphone feedback made everyone cry out, annoyed at the shrill shriek.

"Hi, um, sorry, we have a special guest, tonight we're proud to announce that singing superstar CONSTANCE HERSELF WILL BE PERFORMING A SONG FOR YOU ALL!" the principal, nicknamed the Cardinal because of his penchant for red clothes, said. There were a few cheers, and then when the famous redhead herself popped up on stage, the noise was deafening. She was wearing a deep blue dress that made her look like a mermaid. She was beautiful and D'Artagnan was almost surprised by how good it made him feel that she was here.

"This one is for D'Artagnan," she said simply, and began to sing her most famous hit, True Love, directly to him, smiling. D'Artagnan knew that the smile on his face was so big it probably looked super goofy, because his cheeks were starting to hurt. Porthos wandered over and nudged D'Artagnan, grinning. Aramis, next to him, was looking up at Constance like he'd seen an angel, but that was not unexpected. The song ended, and everyone clapped and cheered, but some students were starting to look at D'Artagnan, and whispers began to stir in the gym.

"I also just wanted to say to D'Artagnan, I'm really sorry about everything. I'm sorry I lied on TV, I'm sorry I hit you on the head, I'm sorry I got you covered in mud, and I'm sorry the paparazzi gave you a hard time. I love you, and I want to be with you, no matter what," she said. D'Artagnan had been slowly making his way towards the stage, and by the time she said the last part, he was standing right in front of her.

"I love you too, Constance. Apology accepted," he said, and she smiled, her whole face lighting up. D'Artagnan held out his arms, and she jumped off the stage and right into them. He caught her and spun her around with her feet off the ground as he pulled her close for a long, deep kiss, ignoring the catcalls from his fellow students.

"D'Artagnan! Are you going to come up with air anytime soon? You have to introduce me," Aramis said, pushing close. D'Artagnan put Constance down and let her go, but the two of them held hands and couldn't stop smiling.

"This is my brother Aramis, Aramis, this is Constance." D'Artagnan said.

"Enchante, I'm your biggest fan," he said, kissing her hand. She rolled her eyes.

"I see where you got all your charm, D'Art," she said. Aramis put a hand to his chest, offended, and Porthos laughed, pulling him close and kissing him quickly on the mouth.

"Don't worry, I think you're the most charming boy in the world," he said.

"Well if you say so, it must be true," Aramis replied.

"Excuse me, no public displays of affection, this is a SCHOOL!" the Cardinal bellowed.

"Let's get out of here," D'Artagnan said.

"Good idea." Aramis replied, and the two brothers, each holding the hand of their date, headed out of the gym and to their cars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was silly but fun to write, so I hope it's fun for you to read too!


End file.
